In her autobiography "My First Five Husbands ... and the Ones Who Got Away," Ms. McClanahan wrote that in her third year at the playhouse, she played the role of a more famous Blanche - Blanche DuBois - in a production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." She described the part as "a plum role I always wanted to tackle."

Ms. McClanahan later moved to New York, where she studied with Uta Hagen and Harold Clurman. In 1968, she performed in the Broadway production of Murray Schisgal's "Jimmy Shine," which starred Dustin Hoffman.

The actress won an Obie in 1970 for her performance in the off-Broadway production of "Who's Happy Now."

Soon, Hollywood beckoned and the actress began her career in television. But she would return to the stage in between her screen jobs.

Ms. McClanahan had a supporting role in a critically acclaimed revival of Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth" at the Old Globe in San Diego. The production was taped and later aired on PBS in 1983.

In 1985, Ms. McClanahan performed in a production of "In the Sweet Bye and Bye" at the Back Alley Theatre in Van Nuys. She told the Los Angeles Times that her housewife character "is obsessed with the afterlife and has taken to throwing herself into open graves: She jumps in, screaming 'Take me with you!' "

After "The Golden Girls," Ms. McClanahan performed twice on Broadway - in the Roundabout's 2001 revival of "The Women," and in the hit musical "Wicked," in which she stepped into the role of Madame Morrible in 2005.